Traditions of the Tajima Household
by BlandImagination
Summary: It's Tajima Yuuichirou's birthday and everyone's invited!...and boys will be boys. Contains yaoi/shounen-ai/shota/whatever the hell they categorize this in.
1. It Begins

**Just thought I'd whip this up. Contains YAOI. There will be more chapters, but this fucking took me forever. Enjoy, and if you have some sort of rude/snide comment about this story, please leave it in the review section. You'll be in for a surprise before you know it.**

"Abe!" the small cleanup hitter exclaimed as he jumped onto the starting catcher's back.

Abe nearly fell over at the sudden extra weight that fell on his spine and arms wrapped around his shoulders. Abe wheezed. "Tajima, what the hell are you doing, dumbass! Get off of me!"

Tajima just shaped his mouth into his signature grin. "Uh-uh-uh, not yet, Abe. Answer a question of mine, and I'll probably get off of you!" Tajima snickered.

Abe craned his head to his right to try and make eye contact the best he could with the team's MVP. "Oh? What's that?" Tajima stuck his neck out like a giraffe so his head was adjacent to Abe's.

Tajima was grinning so much his eyes were closed, making Abe sigh. "So, Abe Takaya, would you like to come to my birthday party next Friday? It's at 3 o'clock and goes until the next morning!"

Abe thought for a second as he quickly made a bouncing motion, adjusting Tajima from slowly sliding down his back. Abe smiled. There hadn't been many social events that the team organized, and Abe's dad had his mind dead set on the fact that Abe "didn't have any friends".

"Sure, I'll probably go. Who all's going?" Abe curiously asked. _Please don't say I was the last one to be asked…_

Tajima thought for a quick second. "Well," he began, "I'm inviting the whole team. So far, everyone but Suyama has said yes, but I still need to ask Mihashi and Oki. Hey!" Tajima bolted up his posture while still cradling his arms around Abe's neck. "Gimme a ride over to Mihashi, 'kay?"

Abe instantly tried to shake off the smaller teen, but he kept a firm hold. "Get off me, jackass! That wasn't part of the deal, and there's no way in hell I'm giving you a piggyback ride during practice!"

"Lighten up, Abe! Giddy up!" Tajima cheered as he brought his right arm up and reached down and smacked Abe's buttock.

Mizutani and Hanai observed the whole conversation from the dugout, watching as Abe frantically tried to run and shake Tajima off. Mizutani was on the dugout floor laughing his ass off while Hanai just brought the center of his palms to his forehead.

* * *

The day of the party had arrived. Tajima had been frantically cleaning his rather large house to prepare for the company of nine teenage boys.

"_Alright, Tajima." His mother had told him. "You kids have fun while the rest of the family leaves for the night."_

"_And don't do anything _too_ crazy," his father added._

It was actually a tradition going back a long time, actually. Whenever a male member of the Tajima household grew another year in age, all the residents would leave so he may celebrate his day of birth with no restrictions. It was frowned upon, however, to impregnate a female, especially at a young age, but his family was less worried about that considering that fact that there would be no girls at the party anyways.

_Brrriiiiiiinngggggg._

Tajima finished adjusting a cushion on one of the couches and strolled over to the front door.

As he opened it, he was met with the smiling faces of Izumi, Mizutani, and Sakaeguchi. The next two people to show up were Oki and Hanai. Nishihiro arrived next and shortly after Mihashi showed up at his front door.

Tajima took a head count and said to himself, "Ok, only Abe's missing." A guttural roar from the den nearly made Mihashi out of his skin.

"THAT'S COMPLETE BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT, IZUMI!"

Tajima placed his hand on Mihashi's shoulder in comfort. "Don't worry, Mihashi. Come on in, and let's see what's up."

Mihashi removed his shoes and timidly made his way to the den alongside Tajima.

"What's wrong, guy?" Tajima inquired as he turned the corner into the family den. There he saw a red-faced Hanai stance himself facing the television as if he were about to wrestle it, a Wii remote in his right hand. Izumi just stood by scratching the back of his head, chuckling, and a Wii mote in his left hand.

Hanai snapped his head over in Tajima's direction, causing Mihashi to flinch and cower behind the small cleanup hitter.

"Wii Baseball is a real load of ass, Tajima." Hanai panted.

Tajima sighed. "Well, duh. That's why you play Power Pro. I just got it today y'know."

Instantly, the eight boys began to play Power Pro for a good four hours until a long awaited ring from the doorbell finally pulled the boys away from the screen.

"Abe!" Tajima's voice was heard from down the hall.

Mihashi's eyes instantly became pure white and his traditional "diamond-mouth" became apparent. _Oh no! Abe's here and he's going to yell at me! I forgot to weigh myself this morning and I didn't respond to his texts and I pitched like crap the other day and I didn't tell him my shoulder was sore and I-_

"So why are you so late, Abe? The party started like 4 hours ago!" Tajima said as he came into the room with Abe.

"I texted Mihashi. Didn't he tell you guys?" Abe explained confusedly, now looking at Mihashi.

The light-brown headed boy squealed and looked back in forth in panic, trying to find some sort of an escape route, and then fell to his knees.

Abe shot his signature frustrated glare at the living panic-attack and rushed over to push his knuckles into Mihashi's temples.

"WHY DON'T YOU EVER REPLY TO MY TEXTS? Even reading them would be a miracle!" Abe roared in the whimpering figure's face.

"I-I-I'm s-s-so s-so sor-so-so-sorry Ab-b-be…I was af-af-afraid you'd be m-m-mad at m-me for-" Mihashi stuttered, avoiding eye contact.

"I AM MAD AT YOU, IDOIT! I could've sent you a text saying I was in a car crash and my parents died, and you wouldn't know because you're too afraid to just talk to me!"

Mihashi just looked at the floor as he began to weep. Abe instantly removed his grip from Mihashi's head and scratched the back of his neck.

_Every time I see him or talk to him he always ends up like this..._Abe thought as he was at a loss for words.

"Hey," Sakaeguchi said softly as he walked over to Mihashi and knelt next to him. "Abe's right, y'know. He could've been in a serious accident and we would have never need to start communicating with Abe, not to mention the rest of the team, better. And as for you," Sakaeguchi stood up, facing Abe. "You need pull back just a little bit on the shouting and whatnot." He looked around. "Everyone got that?"

By now a circle had formed around Abe and Mihashi, all of them standing there, not knowing what to do. At Sakaeguchi's comment they all snapped themselves out of their individual thoughts. "Got it! Everyone agreed in unison.

"C'mon guys! Let's eat!" Tajima exclaimed, obviously trying to break up the tension.

"Damn," Izumi whispered to Mizutani as the group followed Tajima to the kitchen. "The guy's got a point but I think he was a little harsh to Mihashi back there."

Mizutani nodded. "No kidding. He like, almost gave Mihashi a seizure!"

Abe crouched down in front of Mihashi, and took hold of the sniffling pitcher's hand. _It's cold and clammy, as usual._ Abe thought. "Listen…Ren…" He was climbing out onto a limb calling Mihashi by his first name, but Abe wanted to make it clear he actually liked Mihashi, and didn't really hate him for anything. "I'm sorry for screaming at you…and you aren't an idiot. I didn't mean to hurt you…"

Mihashi slowly tilted his gaze up to meet the beautiful gray pair of eyes he'd become so familiar with.

_Abe…is apologizing…and he called me by first name! He must not…hate me…at all!_

Mihashi wiped his eyes. "I-it's okay, it's also p-p-partly my fault…"

"Dude, your hand is starting to warm up! That's a good sign." Abe commented.

"It's all thanks to you, Takaya!" Mihashi exclaimed, then suddenly looked away, wondering if he crossed the line by calling Abe by his first name.

For perhaps the second time ever, Abe gave Mihashi a light smile as the smaller boy's hand began to warm back up.

Everyone in the kitchen, whom had already sat down at the dinner table, was shocked at both Abe's and Mihashi's smiles, while Abe and Mihashi gazed astonished at the mass amounts of food, beverages, and snacks there were on the tables.

As Abe and Mihashi took their seats, Tajima was first to voice everyone's thoughts. "It's about damn time you lovebirds got here! We're starving our asses off! Let's eat!"

"THANKS FOR THE FOOD!" The nine boys cheered as they had already begun to serve themselves.

* * *

By the time they had finished eating, almost everyone on the team had noticed that Tajima was in a more hyper, peppier, and possibly more anxious mood.

It wasn't until he requested they all do some Karaoke that the team confirmed Tajima had lost his marbles.

"C'mon, you guys! Let's have some fun!" Tajima announced. What could the team do? It was his birthday, after all, and who could say no to a Tajima smile?

So, it was decided. Each member got a turn to sing any song they wanted on the Tajima karaoke machine. Izumi sang "Lego House" by Ed Sheeran, Mizutani, Nishihiro, and Oki sang "Barbie Girl", and if that wasn't bad enough, Tajima had convinced Mihashi and Hanai to sing "Friday" by Rebecca Black. All hell broke loose.

Sakaeguchi managed to break up the monotony by singing "Dramatic" by Baseball Bear.

"That only leaves…" Tajima thought out loud as he scanned the room, searching for the final victim of the karaoke embarrassment.

"Abe." Tajima grinned.

Abe's head snapped up at the mere mention of his name; he never wanted to be a part of the karaoke hell, so he had kept a low profile for a good hour. _Looks like all_ _hopes of mine are shattered._ Abe thought.

"No, I'm not going to sing," Abe clarified to the room.

Tajima gave him a look of haughty derision and rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Abe. If you don't sing then we're gonna play Strip Poker!"

Everyone in the room had now put on a mask of horror. When Tajima said something like that, he normally meant it.

Abe groaned. "Give me the damn the mic…" he mumbled.

Tajima smiled. "All right! What are you gonna sing for us tonight, Abe?"

Abe just looked through the song list as the entire team just fell silent. The starting catcher, also the biggest hardass on the team, was going to sing karaoke. This would be great.

Abe had picked the song "Dragon Soul" by Takayoshi Tanimoto, and the intro soon began to play. But when Abe opened his mouth to sing, the sound of his voice was so…amazing. Everyone in the room began cheering for him, and not long after, the song was finished. There were many questions to be asked.

"Abe," Hanai began. "Where did you learn to sing like that?" Everyone else clucked in agreement.

Abe just shrugged. "Well, when my brother Shun was born, my mother would always get me to sing lullabies with her when he was a baby." Abe explained. "Soon, it was my responsibility to sing him to sleep when he would wake up crying, or when he was 5 years old, when he would have nightmares. I guess my vocal chords just developed perfectly."

"I had n-no idea you c-c-could sing that well, A-Abe." Mihashi stuttered.

"Yeah!" added Mizutani. "That was awesome!"

"Your brother was lucky to have you sing to him," Izumi remarked. "You have a kick-ass voice."

By now, Abe had begun to turn a light shade of red, clearly uncomfortable with all the praise he was receiving.

Tajima yawned. "Well," he chirped. "Time for bed! C'mon, let's set up the futons in my room upstairs!"

Everyone was now put into a good humor as they grabbed some soda and snacks from the kitchen and made their way upstairs to Tajima's room.

There was hardly enough room to fit all the mattresses onto the floor. Once all of the futons were adjacent to each other, the Nishiura nine formed a circle by default. Only one thing could come from this.

"Hey Izumi, truth or dare!" Tajima exclaimed.

"Tajima, are you serious? That game is for little kids." The freckled brunette sighed.

Tajima's face darkened slightly as his grin of happiness changed to a grin of mischief. The pitch of his voice sounded slightly deeper as he said "Then let's make the game of Truth or Dare for adults!"

Everyone in the room gulped. Whenever Tajima says anything along those lines, the best thing to do is cut and run.

But no one wanted to do that on his birthday. So they all just decided to go along with whatever Tajima had in mind.

"Well…what do you want to do…?" Nishihiro asked cautiously.

Tajima looked down at the ground. "Um, well, how about if we don't answer a truth or do a dare…" he mumbled.

Oki leaned in near Tajima to try and hear what he was saying. The cleanup hitter was now speaking in a Mihashi-level tone.

Suddenly, Tajima snapped his head up, bringing his hands up in the air, accidentally smacking Oki in the face. "We remove a piece of our clothing as a punishment!" Tajima squealed.

Unsurprisingly, everyone in the room frowned, except for Oki who had pulled himself up from the ground.

"What the hell, man! That really hurt!" Oki shouted, which was really out of character for him.

Tajima looked over to him. "Eh? Well, I'm sorry about that, bud, but the pain should be going away by now." Oki just grumbled something and sat down.

The boys followed Oki's lead, each of them taking a seat, forming a circle on the huge mattress of combined futons.

"So…who's first to ask?" Mizutani asked.

"It only makes sense that the birthday boy gets to ask first," Sakaeguchi pointed out, even though he didn't like the idea of Tajima asking truths or giving dares very much.

"Cool! Let's see…" Tajima observed the circle of boys he was sitting with. He smiled. "Hanai." A huge breath of relief was felt throughout the room.

_Shit…_Hanai thought to himself.

"Truth or dare?"

"Uh, truth I guess." Hanai answered as he started to sip his can of orange soda. _It wouldn't have been much better if I had picked dare anyway…_

Without missing a beat Tajima asked the team captain "Would you rather have some nasty-ass sex with me, or have Momoe vigorously rub sandpaper on your dick?"

Immediately, Hanai sprayed the soda that was in his mouth across the circle, getting it into poor Oki's face.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Oki raged as he stormed out of the room to clean his face.

Everyone gave Hanai a look of utmost curiosity. Almost everyone on the team thought that Momoe was kind of hot in their own sense, but the thought of her rubbing sandpaper mercilessly…Izumi had to grab his crotch. Just the thought was painful.

_Would I rather do it hard with…Tajima, or have my genitalia mutilated by coach…I mean that lady could make orange juice just by squeezing the fruit!_ Hanai pondered, a pounding becoming more and more apparent in his chest and stomach. _Why am I nervous? Because I'd rather...well it couldn't possibly be _that_ bad…with Tajima…why did he have to put himself on the line like that anyway!_

Hanai groaned. It wasn't like Tajima knew he _liked_ him or anything…that bastard. He took a deep breath.

"I'm going to have to say I'd rather do it with Tajima than have my dick turned into Spaghetti-O's…" Hanai breathed.

There were murmurs of agreement from some, disagreements from some others.

"Ah, well, I'm glad you think that way, Azusa." Tajima smiled and winked. "Hanai, it's your turn to ask someone."

Hanai felt his face burning at the mention of his first name. Tajima gazed at the captain curiously.

"What's wrong? Are first names still not appropriate? We should all be calling each other by our first names by now..." Tajima sighed. "Whatever."

"Y'know," Nishihiro cut in. "Tajim- I mean Yuuichirou is right, you guys. We've known each other for a while and yet I feel that we're all strangers in some way."

Murmurs of agreement followed Nishihiro's proposition.

"That's the spirit!" Tajima laughed. "Azusa, your turn to ask!"

Hanai looked around, and decided he'd pick "Mizutani," he stated.

Mizutani gulped. "Dare," he said half-heartedly. _It's only Hanai, what's the worst that could happen?_

Hanai grinned. "I dare you to give a strip tease to Izumi."

Mizutani squeaked. That _definitely_ was not a Hanai thing to say. He looked over at Izumi who was frowning, and whose eyes just gave him a look of "I-don't-care-what-you-do-but-please-make-the-right-choice".

The strawberry-blonde teen just decided to take off his shirt and be done with it. He wasn't doing the dare, so he took the option of just removing a piece of clothing.

_Smart move…even though I would have _kind of _enjoyed it…_Izumi thought in the back of his head. If anyone knew he wanted Mizutani to strip for him, well, it wouldn't have been pretty.

"Hey, you guys" Abe interrupted. "I'm going to go downstairs to get something to drink. I'll be right back." Abe pulled himself up and started heading for the bedroom door.

"Oh, Abe wait! I'm kind of thirsty, I'll go with you!" Tajima got up and bounced his way over his teammates to Abe who was waiting for him.

* * *

Once they were headed down the stairs and out of earshot, Tajima decided to go out on a limb and get Abe talking about more "personal" things.

"Hey Takaya, can we talk for a moment?" Tajima asked as they walked into the kitchen together.

Abe gave Tajima a funny look. "Sure, what do you want to talk about?" Abe said as he opened a bottle of apple soda and took a sip.

Tajima took a deep breath. "Is kissing Mihashi as good as I think it is?"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed, even though some spots made little sense to me...oh, and if you want to hear "Abe" singing, just go on YouTube and look up: Dragon Soul Greg Ayres.**


	2. The Challenge

**OMG ANOTHER CHAPTER! So, hi guys! Sorry to keep you waiting! It's been awhile, I know, but now that I'm practically finished with this school year, I'll try and update my stories more quick. Enjoy!**

* * *

"_Is kissing Mihashi as good as I think it is?"_

Abe sent a mist of apple soda flying from his mouth.

A pounding in Abe's stomach and immediate hotness to his head became imminent. "What the hell?" Abe coughed. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well, I really want to know what it's like to kiss a boy." Tajima explained.

"Well how in the name of Black-Jesus am I supposed to know something like that?" Abe hollered with his right hand clenched into a fist. Tajima smirked. Abe's face had turned into a shade of light red.

"I thought you two were…well, y'know…" Tajima wandered.

"NO!" Abe's roar had sent Tajima tumbling backwards into the nearest wall, his shoulders supporting himself along the wall in an upside-down position.

Tajima chuckled lightly as he picked himself up off the ground. "Sorry," he began. "You two seem so married is all?"

"Well, we aren't…" Abe grumbled.

"But don't you like him a _little_?"

Abe's gaze slowly turned to Tajima's, whose –at the moment- was full of not taunt, but curiosity.

"Yuuichirou, I don't really trust you with anything of my business." _Not that anyone really does, for that matter._

"Eh, I can respect that. But you can't say you _don't_ find him adorable when he's sleeping!"

Abe just mumbled something incomprehensible to anyone but himself, so Tajima could tell that this wasn't the kind of topic to discuss with Abe. The backup catcher began to head back upstairs when Abe said something that stopped him in his tracks.

"Yuu," Abe began. "What is your sexual orientation?"

Tajima turned around, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. "So you ARE curious, huh, Takaya?"

"No, you ass, leave me alone!" Abe turned red. "You just seem a little weird tonight, so I was wondering if you're serious or just being crazy," Abe explained.

Tajima wrapped his hands around the back of his head. "Well, we'll just have to see tonight. But," Tajima stepped closer to Abe. "Could you do me a favor, Takaya?"

Abe gulped. "What would that be?"

"Dare me to kiss Hanai."

Abe stepped back. "I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me." Tajima looked down at the ground, wiggling his toes in anxiety.

"Is there a reason you…_want _to?" Abe inquired in utmost curiosity.

Tajima looked off to the side, avoiding the catcher's gaze. "I guess it's hard to tell because of my personality, but I really like Hanai…y'know, _more_ than just a friend or captain." The small cleanup batter was turning red now.

"I'm confused," the sub-captain said. "Why are you telling _me _of all people?"

"Because I just _trust_ you…Like, I could tell you anything without being judged…"

Abe just stood there like an idiot, speechless. Since when did Yuuichirou Tajima, the boy who would always talk about food, sex, and his _"monster",_ ever console someone with deep, personal emotions?

Tajima went on. "I feel like there's no other way to express myself without him knowing!" Were those _tears_ forming on the corners of Tajima's eyes? "Because if I do, he'll reject me for sure…"

Hell, everyone always thought he'd just speak what he was feeling on the spot. What other secrets did the small clean-up hitter hold under all that energy?

"And knowing that I can never be with him is too much…I like him a lot!" Tajima sniffed. He then erected his back from being hunched over and stared straight into the very center of the catcher's gray eyes.

"Please don't tell anyone I said this. I know I can be too outspoken most of the time, but I want to keep this between us."

_This is even worse than the time Shun came to ask me about puberty!_ Abe fumbled through his vocabulary, trying to find the right words, but he just ended up spluttering nonsense like Mihashi.

Abe shook himself. He was no Mihashi!

"Your secret is safe with me." Abe finally declared, making Tajima feel more relaxed around the usually tempered catcher. "No promises that I'll dare you, though. I can't make it too obvious!"

Abe and Tajima grabbed their sodas and headed back upstairs to the cleanup's bedroom.

* * *

They didn't miss much apparently; just Oki having to lick Nishihiro's foot and Sakaeguchi refusing to do a dare, resulting in the removal of his shirt.

"So, you're back," Mizutani said as the pair entered the room.

"Whose turn is it?" Abe asked.

"Mine." Izumi said as he hoisted himself up. "I'll ask you, Takaya!"

"Ugh, fine. Dare me." Abe grumbled as he pushed his hand through his hair.

"Give Mizutani a hug!"

Everyone in the room turned blue. The catcher wasn't really that fond of Mizutani, seeing how one missed fly-ball had earned him the title "shit-left". The strawberry-blonde teen gulped.

Abe took a few steps over to Mizutani, crouched down beside him, and rolled his eyes as he wrapped his arms around the left-fielder.

It was an awkward sight at least, but the two looked so uncomfortable no one could help but at laugh at them.

The evening went on, people revealing weird secrets and others doing ridiculous dares.

The dares didn't get _too_ out of hand until…

"Mihashi," Tajima said. "I dare you to do the Mentos and Diet Coke challenge!"

Mihashi turned blue.

"Uh, Yuu, don't you think that's a little too extreme? I mean, it's Mihashi we're talking about…" Hanai whispered into Tajima's ear.

Tajima just simply exclaimed, "It's okay, Mihashi! Hanai said he'll do it for you!"

"Huh!"

In a flash, Hanai found some Mentos and a bottle of Diet Coke shoved into his arms. The captain gulped. How was he supposed to say no to Tajima's smile?

Hanai groaned for the millionth time that night. "Fine, but we should probably go outside…this is going to get messy…"

* * *

The nine boys made their way outside into the small cleanup hitter's backyard. It was a very beautiful sight; lush green grass, blooming flowers, tall sturdy trees, even a koi pond, with a small gazebo in the center.

"Fancy garden," Oki said as the group ogled the beautiful scenery.

Nishihiro squatted down next to a group of wildflowers. "You must really enjoy gardening enough to import western plants," Nishihiro commented. "Bluebonnets don't grow in Japan."

Tajima laughed. "Well, it's mainly my grandparents who love gardening. Since they won the lottery back when they were still young, we've had more than enough money to live off of. It's also the reason why our house is so big and why our garden is badass."

"So I assume they had people construct this place?" Izumi inquired, glancing around the large area of green.

"Actually, no, my grandparents felt they needed something to do while they're still alive, so they thought this was appropriate. They love it, apparently."

"Interesting as this may be, don't we have something to do?" Sakaeguchi brought back the main topic as to why they were outside.

Everyone turned to Hanai. He gulped.

"Ok, Hanai, what you're gonna do is fill your mouth with Mentos and try to drink as much Coke as possible! Let's see how you do!" Tajima laughed.

"H-Hanai!" Mihashi piped up.

Hanai looked up from his roll of chewable mints. "Huh?"

"T-Th-Thank you!" Mihashi spluttered, bowing his head to the team captain.

Hanai groaned. "Yeah, yeah. I'll take the bullet this time, but you'll owe me!" And with that, Hanai proceeded to fill his mouth with as many Mentos as possible.

By the time Hanai had about 12 Mentos in his mouth, he was jumping around the yard from the chill of the mints.

Tajima handed Hanai a bottle of Coke. He grudgingly accepted the bottle from Tajima's hand and unscrewed the cap.

The group of boys formed a circle around their captain, anxious to see the outcome.

In one swift movement, Hanai brought the Coke to his lips and attempted to drink as much as he could before it began to explode out of his mouth.

A roar of laughter came from the circle as Hanai spat out the excessive mints and hacked up any coke that may have gone down the wrong tube.

"That's…impossible!" Hanai choked. "The pressure instantly built in my mouth!" Hanai explained while coughing. "That is fucking disgusting. Why did I do that?"

"Because it's hilarious!" Mizutani cried.

"You're okay though, right?" Nishihiro asked.

"I'm fine; I just need some time to plan out Tajima's murder."

Everyone laughed, and Hanai accidentally backed into Abe, who unfortunately, was right in front of the koi pond.

Abe let out a yelp of surprise and he fell into the green water.

If there was one thought going through everyone's heads as they saw the catcher climb out of the murky pond, it would have been along the lines of _"Oh, shit"_.

"I'm covered in fish shit!" the young teen screamed. To everyone's amazement, he didn't sound too mad, as there was a slight laugh in his voice.

Hanai rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Heh heh, sorry."

Abe just grumbled and faced Tajima. "Can I use your shower and laundry room so my clothes and I don't smell like crap the rest of the night?"

Tajima laughed. "Sure, I'll show you the way."

* * *

The group of boys headed back into Tajima's big-ass house and proceeded to follow Tajima and Abe to the bathroom.

"There's no lock on the door, by the way. Have fun!" Tajima said as Abe stepped into the bathroom.

"Ugh, dammit. Okay, I'll close the door and hold them out to you to take them to the laundry room."

"Sounds good."

Abe closed the door behind him and slid his clothes under the door. He opened the shower curtains, and turned on the waiting for it to warm-up.

Outside of the door, the group of boys began to head back to Tajima's room, except for Mihashi and Tajima.

"H-h-how long will Tak-k-kaya be in there?" Mihashi asked, looking at the bathroom door with a lost expression on his face.

"I don't know. Why don't you go ask him!" Tajima said as he opened the bathroom door and pushed Mihashi inside.

* * *

**Didja like it? Let me know what I could do better, what you didn't like, what you think should happen next, etc.  
By the way, it encourages writers to update faster if you review more, so you should do that. (I DO take anonymous reviews.)  
And one more thing: would it be better if I updated faster but the chapters are shorter, or the chapters are longer and I update slower? Let me know!**


	3. Staring

**Hey bitches! It's been awhile. Writer's block, you know? Anyways, Happy IzuMizu Day! In honor of it, I threw in a little more Izumi x Mizutani in here. There's less TajiHanai and AbeMiha though. Enjoy!**

* * *

_"H-h-how long will Tak-k-kaya be in there?" Mihashi asked, looking at the bathroom door with a lost expression on his face._

_"I don't know. Why don't you go ask him!" Tajima said as he opened the bathroom door and pushed Mihashi inside._

Mihashi fell flat on his face as the bathroom door slammed behind him. He slowly elevated his gaze to see a startled Abe looking over his shoulder at the commotion; Mihashi could only see the backside of the catcher, in his naked glory.

Abe's body had a nice tanned complexion, although you could see some faint tan lines from his practice uniform. His back and shoulders were well muscled, and his legs also developed thickness from all the squatting he had done.

But for the few seconds he was staring, Mihashi couldn't help but notice how nice Abe's ass was. Such a fine shape; muscular, defined, and smooth.

"Mihashi!" Abe exclaimed. _Oh crap! He's calling me Mihashi again!_ The smaller boy frantically thought. _He's going to kill me!_

The pitcher yelped and zipped to the closed bathroom door, attempting to open it whilst squealing and whimpering incomprehensible words.

On the other side of the bathroom door, Tajima had been bracing it with all his might, preventing whatever escapes Mihashi might try to pull.

What Tajima didn't plan on, however, was that Mihashi, when in danger or running from Abe/bullies, had extreme reserves of adrenaline and energy.

Before he knew it, Mihashi had blasted out of the bathroom, sending Tajima crashing into the wall behind him, and went Mach 6 down the hallway into the cleanup hitter's room.

Tajima peeled himself off the wall and closed the bathroom door. He then proceeded to chase Mihashi into his room, where he saw the rest of the team crowding around the closet.

"What's going on?" the small batter asked.

"Ren crashed into the room, squealing like a little girl, and threw himself in your closet." Nishihiro explained.

"What did you do to him?" Hanai asked.

Tajima laughed. "I threw him into the bathroom after Takaya handed his clothes out to me."

Soft whimpering from the closet followed the cleanup batter's statement.

"Dude," Hanai began, "why would you do that?"

"Yeah, he's a complete wreck. Takaya will probably kill him when he comes back!" Izumi added.

A muffled whine came from within the closet.

"Kousuke, don't scare him like that." Mizutani remarked.

"Ugh, I'll get him out." Tajima opened the closet door and closed it behind him.

There he found Mihashi lying sideways on the floor, legs crossed and hands pushing down on his crotch area. He was red as a raspberry.

"Ren," Tajima began as he knelt beside the shaking pitcher, "I'm sorry I did that. I thought it wouldn't lead to something like this."

"H-He's not going to catch for me a-anymore…" Mihashi whimpered as he buried his face into the closet's carpet. Once again, like at the semi-final game with Muasashino Daiichi, the pitcher seemed to be shrinking.

Tajima gently laid a hand on Mihashi's back and rubbed it comfortingly. "Hey man, why would you think something like that?"

"H-He hates me…now…"

"No he doesn't. Why would you think that?"

Mihashi continued to sniffle into the thick carpet. "B-Because I stared at h-him…"

The small cleanup fought back a chuckle. "Well," he began, "I really am sorry that I did that. But I know for a fact," he continued, "Abe likes you much more than you realize. Why do you think he works so hard for you?"

The golden-haired boy wiped away his tears, and sniffling still, looked up at his reserve catcher. "R-Really? He doesn't hate me?"

"Of course not." Tajima grinned. "He might even have a thing for ya, with such a cute face like yours!"

Tajima laughed, and Mihashi chuckled nervously as he followed the cleanup batter out of his closet.

* * *

Abe stepped into the shower and let the water run through his hair and down his body. Already, the stench of the koi pond filled the room as the steam circulated around the area. Disgusted at the pungent odor, Abe instantly reached for Tajima's shampoo and body wash.

He scrubbed the hair-care product on his scalp and lathered the pleasant smelling liquid soap on his torso and legs. When the smell of fish had finally drifted away, Abe's mind began to wander.

He recalled Mihashi's face as he ogled Abe's naked body. His mouth was in the shape of a diamond (his traditional look of shock) and his face a bright red.

Something showed in the pitcher's eyes that Abe had never seen before as he vaguely notice his gaze wandering the catcher's body; was it lust? Or maybe it was attraction? Or perhaps it happened to be something else along those lines?

Either way, the catcher knew that they stared at each other for far too long. But then again, he couldn't help but like the feeling of being exposed to Mihashi…

It wasn't like they'd never seen each other naked before, though. After practices while they're showering, Mihashi had seen Abe naked, and the other way around. Was it just the fact Abe was the only one clothes-less? Or maybe the fact he could keep Mihashi's eyes on himself for an extended amount of time?

_Shit,_ the catcher thought as he looked down his wet body to find his privates "standing at attention". _Am I an exhibitionist?_

The young teen shook his head in disbelief and waited for his arousal to die down. He'd just have to wait and see how the night turned out.

* * *

Tajima opened the closet door to see Sakaeguchi and Oki snickering and Hanai and Izumi were holding back their laughter.

"What's so funny?" the small teen asked.

"Nothing," Oki chuckled.

"It's just funny seeing you come out of your closet…it just looks weird is all." Izumi added, grinning stupidly.

"Har-dee-har-har," Tajima mocked as he strolled over to the freckled brunette and playfully punched his arm. "At least if _I_ come out to _someone_, it wouldn't be a surprise. Wink wink, nudge nudge." Tajima gestured his head towards Mizutani, who was sitting on Tajima's bed, listening to a song on his headphones.

Izumi looked down at his twiddling toes and began to turn red. "What _about_ Fumiki?" He mumbled.

"Fumiki? Who said anything about _Fumiki_?" Tajima replied, emphasizing the left-fielder's name.

"Huh?" The strawberry-blonde called from the bed, removing his headphones.

"Nothing!" The center-fielder called back and nervously chuckled.

"Hey Fumiki," Nishihiro walked over and sat by Mizutani on the bed. "What are you always listening to on those headphones of yours?"

"If you want to know," the redhead began as he looked through his mp3 player, "I've been a huge fan of classical music, especially by American composers."

"That's weird! I'd never guess that all this time you were listening to _classical _music!" Tajima interjected.

"I like all kinds of music." Mizutani shrugged. "I don't just listen to one genre."

The only answer Mizutani got was the dropping of many jaws to the floor. Was it really _that_ hard to believe he liked classical music?

"Guys, shouldn't we be getting back to the game?" Oki timidly suggested.

Soon after the first baseman's reminder, the team reformed their circle.

"Who's next?" Izumi asked.

"It's my turn!" answered the bald captain. He looked around the room and stopped his gaze at his fellow brunette outfielder. "Hey Kousuke, do you pick truth or dare?"

The experienced outfielder groaned. What should he do? Should he pick "truth" at the risk of Hanai asking who he liked? Or would he rather pick "dare" at the risk of being embarrassed somehow? Either way he knew he would be shat on.

"I'll choose dare." The freckled boy said, as he braced himself for the worst.

Before the team captain could even say anything Tajima had already interrupted. "Take your shirt off and try to lick your chest!"

"Fuck _that_ shit!" the freckled brunette exclaimed, turning red. He removed his shirt, confusing everyone in the room, but settled any questioning thoughts when he took no other action once his torso was exposed.

In the corner of his eye, the brunette thought he saw his secret strawberry-blonde crush turn red.

* * *

Mizutani had always found Izumi attractive, but he never really got a good look at his body; no, if he got a good look at his body, everyone would make fun of him for staring.

Now Mizutani could see the centerfielder's pectorals and abdomen, muscles gradually developing; Mizutani could tell Izumi would have an even hotter body by next year. But then again while looking at his own shirtless torso, Mizutani could tell he wasn't much farther behind in physique.

Mizutani began to feel a pressure forming in his athletic shorts…shit! Athletic shorts! You could spot a hard-on in one of those a mile away!

The strawberry-blonde nonchalantly slipped his hand into his boxers when nobody was looking to put the tip of his member under the elastic so it would kill the blood circulation and hide a forming tent in his pants.

* * *

"Ren," Izumi nonchalantly continued the game, "truth or dare?"

The pitcher jumped at the sound of his name and looked around. It was his first question, so everyone in the circle had their eyes on him. It almost reminded Mihashi of the first day he joined, when he was about to throw his first pitches and the team gathered around to watch.

"Um, I pick truth…I guess if that's okay…" Mihashi slowly answered.

_That's weird,_ Hanai observed. _He can talk without stuttering or anything, but when Takaya is around he can't even _try_ to talk normally._ _I wonder…_

"Hey Kousuke," Hanai gestured the centerfielder to lean in so he could whisper something, "I have a good one."

Izumi leaned in close and Hanai cupped his lips with his hands and put them to Izumi's ear.

Mihashi, along with everyone else, had leveled their noise down with a gradual diminuendo so they could hear the truth.

The pitcher gulped when he saw a sinister smirk shape his classmate's lips.

"Okay Ren," Izumi began, "what about Takaya makes you so jumpy and make you act like…well, like the way you do?"

"Um…" the timid pitcher began. _This_ was definitely going to be good.

"Well, he…scares me…and he scolds me a lot…so I get nervous around him…" Mihashi explained lethargically.

Everyone was clearly not satisfied with the pitcher's response; there was obviously more to it than that.

"That's it?" Oki asked. "I feel like you're hiding something, Mihashi."

Mihashi turned a deep red and looked at the ground. "I…also like…Takaya…a lot…"

None of the eight boys in the room realized that Abe had been hiding behind the door, and heard every word.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed! I really try to update as soon as I can! Please review if you can. It's the best gift a reader can give to a writer, especially on IzuMizu day! :3**


	4. Deeper Thought

_None of the eight boys in the room realized that Abe had been hiding behind the door, and heard every word._

Prior to his eavesdropping, Abe had managed to drag his mind on to other things in his shower, other than Mihashi's cute face; be it if he had to think of school or his grandmother's tits.

He had decided that Tajima most likely had a lot to do with what happened, and the fact Mihashi fell into the bathroom was just pure misfortune.

When he had finished his shower, he realized that his clothes were nowhere to be seen. Abe had remembered something about Oki taking them to the Tajima laundry room for them to be, well, washed. If he was correct, it wouldn't take long to have his clothes cleaned and they should be in the dryer by now.

After careful planning, Abe decided to head downstairs to their laundry room himself. The other guys were probably having a wrestling match in Tajima's room anyway.

The catcher stepped out of the shower, dried himself off and wrapped it around his waist. Poking his head out of door like a burrowing owl, he scanned the hallways in utmost vigilance to make sure he wouldn't be seen. Although the coast was clear, Abe could hear noises coming from down the hall. He'd have to move quickly.

He managed to slip through the halls undetected and made his way down stairs. It took him awhile to open and close each door, trying to look for the damn laundry room in this ginormous house.

After _finally_ following the clankety-clank noise of jumbling shit and a low _whir_ sound, the catcher was finally able to find his clothes already tumbling around in the Tajima dryer.

The machine was digitally marked by a red number five; Abe assumed it to be the remaining time left on the dry cycle. Abe leaned back on the wall and slowly slouched himself into sitting on the floor, thoughts now redirecting towards Mihashi.

Five minutes.

Abe rested his head in between his knees and tried to analyze the situation like he would an opposing team's at-bat. The first thing he'd do is focus on the incommodious timing in which he was seen bare-skinned.

It had only been about seven seconds after he handed his clothes out when Mihashi fumbled over himself and face-planted in the bathroom's tile. Was Mihashi leaning on the door and accidentally turn the knob? And for the matter, why would he be leaning on the door in the first place; to see if he could sneak a peek or something?

Four minutes.

On that note, would that mean Mihashi was homosexual? Or maybe at least had homosexual tendencies? Abe couldn't help but think of his earlier conversation with Tajima. _"Yuu, what's your sexual orientation?" _His response:_ "You'll see."_ So maybe Tajima is bisexual. After all, he always talks about "big-bootie-bitches" in his porn magazines and whatnot. But then again, Tajima _did_ say he liked Hanai more than a normal friend would, _and_ that he requested Abe to dare Hanai to kiss the cleanup hitter.

Three minutes.

So maybe Tajima is able to convert people into becoming one of the following things :  
1) Homosexual  
2) Bisexual  
3) Bi-curious  
Tajima was a boy of much charm, so the latter would most likely happen to anyone. Even if he _did_ talk about porn, his dick, and other preferably non-sociable topics, Tajima can always make you smile or feel better about yourself - even if he _is_ a dumb-fuck.

Two minutes.

Maybe Mihashi was "converted" by Tajima sometime when Abe wasn't around. But then again, Abe was almost _always_ around his pitcher. _Oh wait,_ Abe reminded himself, _Mihashi is in the same class as Tajima._ The raven-haired boy groaned. No matter how close Abe would ever try to get to Mihashi, Tajima would _always_ be one step ahead of him and make all of the catcher's efforts seem miniscule compared to the cleanup's.

One minute.

Abe just decided that his "competition" with Tajima was simply so he could fit in more practicing time with his pitcher, not to mention working on each other's communication skills – which, holy _fuck_, was a pain in the ass.

Thirty seconds.

Abe heaved himself up as he squatted next to the dryer, awaiting his soon to be snuggly-warm shirt, shorts, and best of all, boxers. He honestly wondered what Mihashi looked like when he took his clothes out of the dryer…

Abe could just see Mihashi's mom calling him down to get his laundry and his pitcher rushing down to open the hatch; and once he pulled out his fresh load of clothes he would bury his face into the soft, warm embrace that his apparel had offered.

And then most likely he'd fall asleep.

The catcher chuckled at the thought, because he was more than certain it had happened at least once in his pitcher's life.

Okay, Tajima was right. He did admit that Mihashi was probably the most adorable thing in the world when he slept and that maybe he _did_ have a cr-

_Ding!_

Oh wonderful, his clothes were finally done. Now he wouldn't have to sit around in a sopping towel anymore. He opened the machine and pulled out his clothes. The catcher sheepishly poked his head out the door to make sure the coast was clear; he dropped his towel for a quick second so he was completely nude and hastily slipped on his boxers, followed by his shorts, then his shirt.

Deep down, the raven-haired boy secretly hoped that Mihashi may have been peeking around the corner watching him, but he knew that was only a thought. Never again would something like that ever happen a second time.

Abe slipped out of the laundry room and made his way upstairs and magnetized his route to the noise coming from down the hall.

As he came closer, his ears pricked up at the sound of his name. Maybe it'd be a better idea to just wait outside the door.

* * *

"Ren, truth or dare?" the catcher hear Izumi's voice.

After a brief pause, there was a response. "Um, I pick truth…I guess if that's okay…" The pitcher slowly answered.

"Hey Kousuke," …Hanai's voice this time.

Whispering.

"Okay Ren," Izumi began, "what about Takaya makes you so jumpy and make you act like…well, like the way you do?"

_Uh oh,_ Abe thought. _I should probably prepare for the worst. He probably just hates me but doesn't show it._

"Um…well, he…scares me…and he scolds me a lot…so I get nervous around him…" Mihashi explained lethargically.

_Yup, there it is. I should probably put aside all thoughts of liking him and just think abou-_

"That's it?" Another voice chimed in. Oki's probably. "I feel like you're hiding something, Mihashi."

_Here it comes._

"I…also like…Takaya…a lot…" Mihashi said softly.

_Yup, I'm just gonna try and keep things normal with Mihashi so nothing weird com- wait what the fuck?_

Abe's mind was in a whirl. Mihashi…liked him! The raven-haired boy could have sworn that Mihashi would've hated him due to the catcher's abrasiveness and petulance. And even though Mihashi actually _did_ like him, Abe couldn't help but realize how much he liked Mihashi back.

The catcher believed that it would be better to just listen to the rest and then chill in the kitchen until a few more people had been truth'd or dared.

* * *

**Hey. Sorry it took so long to update AND that it was a shorter chapter. School is starting to ass-rape me again, so I might take a little while longer to update. Gomen! But as always, READ AND REVIEW!**


	5. Trippin' and Lectures?

**HOLY CRAP. I have been so busy with school and activities that I haven't been able to work on this AT ALL. HOWEVER, comma, my busy life is no excuse for not getting a little done everyday, so I'll try to do that now. I am really sorry for the long wait and the chapter isn't that long. However, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"_Takaya," a voice said behind Abe, "I want to tell you something."_

_The catcher turned around to face the shortest member of the Nishiura Nine. The boy's red-brown eyes were dead locked on Abe's gray ones._

"_What is it, Yuuichirou?" Abe groaned. With Tajima, you never knew what he'd have to say with his "serious face". What this moron considered "serious" ranged between how he hadn't been able to spank it for a week, to killing a hobo._

_Without warning, the smaller teen pinned Abe's shoulders to the wall and crashed his lips onto the catcher's with so much passion they could feel explosions crackling and booming around them._

_As Tajima reluctantly peeled his lips off of Abe's and buried his face into the catcher's chest and wrapped his arms around his hips, he softly muttered, "I love you."_

_Abe returned the embrace and began to gently stroke the third baseman's hair. "I do to…" Is all Abe could respond._

_Mihashi and Hanai had been watching the whole thing, in utter shock._

"_H-Hanai…" Mihashi hesitantly began, "what do we do now?"_

_The team captain slowly turned to face the pitcher, who was now welling tears in the corners of his eyes. _

_Hanai wasn't used to dealing with boys crying (other than Mihashi, but normally Abe would put up with it). Sure, he had two twin sisters that were learning they could be emotional for no reason thanks to PMS, but he never actually had to bother trying to calm them down. The captain did the only thing he thought would be right._

"_Hey," he said whilst wiping away a tear that had begun the streak down the pitcher's face with his thumb, "we just try to accept it and move on…there's nothing we can do now."_

_Mihashi sniffled in response. "D-Do we still have e-each other, Hanai?" _

_The bald captain's response was only inching closer towards the pitcher's face and pressing his soft lips against Mihashi's. The sandy-blonde pitcher nearly collapsed from the pure sensation of being kissed by Hanai._

_Sakaeguchi simply just stared at the scene, utterly speechless. What the fuck just happened?_

* * *

Suyama snapped himself awake. He rubbed blood back into the side of his forehead that he was sleeping on against the car window. He peered over the passenger's seat and saw that it was 2:30am.

He wasn't far from home, but he would never want to go back to the Nagano Prefecture again, even if it _was_ for a cousin's wedding.

Speaking of, Suyama decided he'd never want to eat American cake with green frosting ever again. That must have been what gave him the hallucinated dreams. Abe and Tajima? Mihashi and Hanai? Something just didn't feel right about that.

Why the hell are Americans so weird? No other country has colored cakes.

"At least I'm not tripping balls," Suyama groaned to himself as he leaned back into his seat and tried to sleep peacefully on his way back to Saitama.

* * *

"Wait," Mizutani began, "you're gay then?"

Mihashi just shuffled in his spot and stared down at the ground. After a long moment passed, the pitcher made small, vigorous nodding motions with his head. With each back-and-forth movement his face seemed to turn one more shade of red.

"Dumbass," Hanai scolded him, "if he likes Takaya, then what else is there to question?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure when you like someone of the same gender you're considered homosexual." Sakaeguchi added.

The golden-brown haired pitcher looked like he was going to die of embarrassment. "I…um…think the only boy that I've felt this way for is…T-Takaya…" Mihashi explained, abashment practically flowing out of his ears like fountains.

"Can you even be gay for only one person? Like, is that even possible?" Oki inquired.

Tajima was the first to interject before anyone else could. "I think that's called pansexuality."

"…what the fuck is that, Yuuichirou?" someone said, most likely Mizutani.

Tajima faced his comrades and raised his forefinger matter-of-factly. "You see," the cleanup began, "homosexuality is attraction to the same sex, right? And heterosexuality is attraction to the opposite sex, while bisexuality deals with attraction towards both sexes. Normally, Mihashi here," he scurries over to the beet-red pitcher and pats him on the back, "would be considered bisexual, because of his attraction to a boy, but with the possibility of also liking girls. But since he only has feelings for Takaya and no other person of the male gender, you would say he's more attracted to the Takaya himself rather than the male gender. That's what we call pansexuality: the attraction to people themselves rather than specific genders."

After a rather disturbing silence, Nishihiro raised his hand in question.

"Will this be on the test, Tajima-sensei?" the reserve player asked, laughter dripping from his voice.

Everyone in the room laughed but one person: Tajima himself.

"I don't get it." Tajima bluntly stated.

Sakaeguchi just slapped his forehead. Izumi was the one to explain.

"You dumbass," he playfully punches Tajima's arm whilst saying; "you sound like a teacher giving us a lecture…on the most obscure topic of this night, nonetheless."

After thinking deeply for a few seconds, the spiky-haired boy bursts into cacophonic hysteria.

Humored, whilst a little worried at the same time, the seven boys begin laughing and laughing. They don't even know why; perhaps it's because Tajima's laughter is contagious.

It's during this laughing fit where the Nishiura Nine (or in this case, Seven) start rolling around on the ground, laughing, grabbing and tickling at or with anyone near them.

Izumi found himself tickling the strawberry-blonde idiot to death on the ground, sitting on Mizutani's back whist shaking his ribcage, expelling intense laughter out of the smaller teen.

Izumi rolled the left fielder over onto his back and collapsed, slowing down his finger's movements on Mizutani's sides, and finally stops.

When Mizutani and Izumi make eye contact, all the commotion and jubilant chaos surrounding them just seems to slow down immensely. Neither of them can break their eye contact with each other; Izumi's soft gray gaze fusing with Mizutani's gentle blue one could mix into a concoction for a coastal storm of beauty. Their hearts continue to beat faster and faster until their pacemakers work at the exact same rhythm.

Neither of them realize that their lips have been connected until the break apart for air, and when they look around, their teammates are staring at them in awe.

* * *

**Yup, like I said, this chapter is pretty damn short. I'll REALLY try to get more done in 2-3 weeks, so keep reading and reviewing. Oh, and if you've been with this story since the day it was born, kudos to you. So anyways, I hope you enjoyed, keep hoping for more chapters, and review to encourage me and improve my motivation. See ya.**

**-Blando**


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